PART I

ACT I

SCENE IV

(The School Library. SHINJI, ASUKA, TOJI, HIKARI and KENSUKE all sit at a table with history books in front of them. REI sits at another table, a book in front of her. A LIBRARIAN, goes about their work.)

TOJI: (Lowering his book, he stares at the audience, sighs.) History had never been one of my best subjects. A bunch of people from the past doing whatever, but my dad always thought taking this class would do me some good. Anyway, we all had to do research for a history project and our teacher decided to play things differently by pulling names out of two hats, so Shinji ended up with Vlad the Impaler (Not exactly thrilled with his assigned historical person, SHINJI holds up his book.), Asuka got Saladin (Rather perplexed as to who Saladin is, ASUKA holds up her book.), Hikari got Bayinnaung (Genuinely interested, HIKARI excitedly holds up her book.), Kensuke got Montezuma (More than a little confused as to who his historical figure is, KENSUKE holds up his book), Ayanami ended up with the Dukes of Burgundy (REI just holds up her book.) and I ended up with Genghis Khan. Who the hell even were some of these people? (To his classmates.) WHO EVEN ARE THESE PEOPLE? HAS THE OLD GUY FINALLY LOST IT?

LIBRARIAN: (Turns to TOJI.) Shh!

HIKARI: Personally, I find this so interesting. I love world history!

ASUKA: You know when you are told you are going to be doing a history assignment on a major figure from the Crusades, some people might have thought Frederick Barbarossa or King Richard.

SHINJI: I'm not sure how I feel about having doing a project on someone called "the Impaler."

(ENTER TAKETOKI)

TOJI: (To the audience.) Then you had Taketoki who ended up with Algirdas and Kestutis… (Shrugs), I have no idea. Just some important historical dudes from somewhere, I guess.

(Noticing TAKETOKI, a look of disinterest spreads across ASUKA's countenance. TAKETOKI walks over to, walking behind her specifically and placing a hand on her shoulder.)

TAKETOKI: Reading something good?

ASUKA: (More than a little annoyed.) Hands off! Now!

TAKETOKI: (Still with his hand on her shoulder.) Come on, why hang out with the class rep, the wimp who got lucky to be an Eva pilot, the conspiracy theorist, the dork who never bothers to wear the correct uniform and… (Looking over at REI.) the android over there. (Everyone stares at him, fairly unhappy with his comments.)

SHINJI: She said hands off!

HIKARI: Besides, we are all doing research for our history assignments. Why aren't you doing the same?

SHINJI: (Completely Deadpan.) He's probably going for the lowest grade in the class.

TAKETOKI: Shut up! (He punches SHINJI in the head, resulting in the other students standing up, with ASUKA quickly punching TAKETOKI square in the face.)

LIBRARIAN: Woah, there kids! Ichimonji, I saw what you did. Go to the office this instant! (Rolling his eyes, TAKETOKI makes his EXIT. The LIBRARIAN then looks at SHINJI.) Alright, everyone back to what they were doing.

ASUKA: (Concerned.) Are you alright, Shinji?

SHINJI: (Rubbing where TAKETOKI hit him.) Yeah, I'll be fine. [EXEUNT.)

NOTES

I actually did pull names out of a hat for everyone but Shinji and Toji. Shinji having to do an assignment on Vlad the Impaler comes from a particularly weird piece of art, that may be official, taking place at what I am presuming is, I kid you not, a NERV Halloween party featuring Shinji as Dracula/a generic vampire, Gendo as the Headless Horseman, Rei as a witch and Asuka as someone in a green dress. The historical figures are also derived from "Age of Empires II" campaigns. I just figured, why not?

I do apologize for the bits involving the kids being more or less, just regular school kids, but I figure if there hadn't been an angel in nearly two months, then lets just let them have the chance to be kids. If I am taking inspiration from the entirety of the franchise, then I can allow them to have normal lives for a moment.

I'd always intended for Taketoki to be something of a jerk, but it wasn't until this specific scene that I realized how much of a jerk he was going to be. I figure that if Conn is not a complete jerk, being someone who enjoys teasing people, but ultimately with his good parts, then Taketoki is the complete jerk, but we'll have to wait and see, it is still too early in the play to say.

Although I didn't mention in the notes for the second scene, Kensuke being a conspiracy theorist drawn from his "Campus Apocalypse" portrayal.